Six Irish authors five of them women feature in the top one hundred international best selling book list.
Maeve Binchy tops the list of Irish authors in book sales. Her latest novel 'Tara Road' published in May 1999 has sold in the region of one and a quarter million copies grossing £8 million. Her book 'Aches and Pains' also features in the top 100 making her the only author to appear twice in the top 100.
Another Irish author Cathy Kelly has sold over one and a quarter million pounds worth of books placing her in 50th position in the top 100. Sheila O'Flanagan's novel 'Suddenly Single' has sold £1.3 million worth. A part-time writer she works as a trader with NCB stockbrokers. Her main challenge is finding the time to write and she has decided to give up her stockbroking job and devote herself to writing.
Crime writer and former Irish Times journalist John Connolly also features on the list. His first book 'Every Dead Thing' was snapped up in America for $1 million. His second book 'Dark Hollow' has jumped to the top of the Irish best sellers list and is placed at number 4 in the United Kingdom. Following the success of his first two novels, he says,
The pressure is on. It's a matter of trying to keep up the standard.
Patricia Scanlan also features in the top 100 with sales of 143,000 copies of her book 'City Woman' grossing close to £1 million. Marian Keyes is at number 52 with 'Last Chance Saloon' with sales of over 213,000 copies grossing over £2 million.
Joe Collins of Hodges Figgis says that all the Irish authors on the international best sellers list also sell well in Ireland. There are other Irish authors who are not on the international list who sell better in Ireland.
The book trade has never been more buoyant in Ireland.
Martin Nield, Managing Director at Hodder & Stoughton, who published John Connolly's work says that they do not see him as an Irish writer but rather an Irish man writing in an international genre extremely successfully.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 17 January 2000. The reporter is Colm Connolly.
